Staff Me Up alternative
Applying for work should not
cost you $19.99 a month.
NeedaCrew is free for crew. Unlimited applications, unlimited alerts, and 100% of your rate. The people with the budget pay our fee, and only when a booking actually happens.
No card. No trial that ends. Free is the plan, not the sample.
The difference is who pays.
Their model
The crew looking for work pay.
Productions post jobs free and browse the talent database free. The revenue comes from crew subscriptions: $19.99 a month for unlimited applications and work alerts.
Ours
The people with the budget pay.
Crew are free, permanently. Posting is free too. We take a flat 5% on the hirer’s side when a booking actually happens, and nothing if it does not.
Both models are legitimate. But one of them only earns when you do, and that changes what the site is built to be good at. We make money when crew get hired, so the whole thing is pointed at getting you hired.
Side by side
Their figures are from their published pricing and help centre, checked September 23, 2026. If they change, so does this page.
Apply to a job
Five applications on the free account, then Premium
Unlimited, free, forever
Get told when work fits you
Work alerts are a Premium feature
Match Alerts on the free account
Message the person hiring
Premium
Free
What crew pay
$19.99 a month, or $149.99 a year
Nothing
What hirers pay to post
Nothing
Nothing
What the platform takes from your rate
Nothing
Nothing. Crew keep 100%
Where the money comes from
Crew subscriptions
A 5% fee on the hirer, only when a booking happens
Paid through the site
No, you invoice the production yourself
Yes. Pay by card and it goes straight to the crew's Stripe account
How many people are on it
Over 350,000 profiles, since 2012
Far fewer, since 2026
What they are good at
Staff Me Up has been running since 2012 and has over 350,000 profiles on it. In unscripted and network television, particularly in Los Angeles, that depth is real and a lot of people have built careers off it. If you are staffing a reality show next week, they have the volume. Being on both costs you nothing.
Where we are honestly behind
We started this year. We're a small fraction of their size, and on any given week there are a handful of projects up, not hundreds. We would rather say that than have you find out. What a small board buys you is that you are not the four hundredth application, and people here actually hear back.
What the free account actually includes
Unlimited applications
Apply to every project that fits. There is no counter, no token, and no upgrade screen at the fifth one.
Match Alerts on every project
Tell us your roles and your city. We email you when something fits, for nothing.
Message the person hiring
Straight to the producer. Not a paid unlock.
Your profile, your rate
Set your day rate, show your credits and reel, and be found in search by anyone hiring.
100% of your rate
We never take a cut of what you are paid. The fee sits on the hirer.
Get paid through the site
When the hirer pays by card, your full rate goes straight to your own Stripe account. Clean records for tax time.
Pro exists, at $5 a month for your first year, then $8, for the business side: instant payouts, your money and taxes in one place, a rate check, and seeing who saved you. Nothing about finding or landing work is behind it. See the whole price list.
Independently run, and staying that way. No VC pushing us to raise fees. 5% flat, crew keep 100%. When a platform’s revenue comes from the people looking for work, the pressure is always to charge them more. Ours does not, so it cannot.
Straight answers
Is NeedaCrew actually free for crew?
Yes, and not as a trial. Building a profile, applying to every project you want, Match Alerts, and messaging the person hiring are all on the free account and stay there. Pro is for the business side of freelance work: instant payouts, your money and taxes in one place, a rate check, and seeing who saved you. It is $5 a month for your first year, then $8, and nothing about finding and landing work is behind it.
So how does NeedaCrew make money?
A flat 5% fee, added on the hirer's side, and only when a booking actually happens. If nobody books, we earn nothing. Crew keep 100% of their rate. That single fee is the entire business, which is why we can leave the crew side free.
What does Staff Me Up cost?
Premium is $19.99 a month, or $149.99 a year, which works out to $12.50 a month. The free account includes up to five job applications, and work alerts are part of Premium. Employers post jobs free. Checked September 23, 2026.
Should I quit Staff Me Up?
Probably not, if it is working for you. Most working crew are on several boards at once, and that is the sane approach. The honest pitch is narrower: you should not have to pay a subscription for the right to apply, so put your profile here too and let it cost you nothing.
You have far fewer people. Why would I bother?
Because being on a smaller board costs you nothing here, and on a small board you are not the four hundredth application. Producers posting on NeedaCrew see a handful of real profiles rather than a wall, and crew hear back. We would rather tell you that than pretend we are bigger than we are.
Do you hold my money?
No. When a hirer pays by card through NeedaCrew, your full rate goes straight to your own Stripe account. We add our 5% on the hirer's side and never touch your money.
Takes about a minute. Keep your other profiles up; this one costs you nothing.
Staff Me Up is a trademark of its owner and is not affiliated with NeedaCrew. Figures about their service are taken from their own published pricing and help centre on September 23, 2026 and may have changed since. If you spot something out of date here, tell us and we will correct it.